The Black Obi by Okada Saburosuke

Oh the rush of unexpectedly being smitten by beauty!

I had bought some new drinking glasses at the Daiso 100 ¥ Shop. Daiso provides scraps of newspaper, on worktables placed at the end of the cash register aisles, so that breakables can be wrapped for safe transport.

I picked up a handful of scraps and began to cover each glass and tuck them into my shopping bag.

The sad, frustrating truth is that I cannot read Japanese. The many vertical characters on the newspapers’ pages blurred together into mysterious meaninglessness.

When I glanced down at the stack of paper to grab a fresh sheet, I found this lovely young woman staring up at me! There were few photos printed on the paper scraps that day, and so the contrast – this beauty standing out amongst the rows of gibberish – was especially striking. The painting, in art’s universal language, was something I could understand. I tucked the scrap into my purse for safe keeping.

This morning, I had brunch with my friends Sonia and Miyo and, as I went to retrieve a pen, I felt the saved newspaper in my purse and excitedly showed Miyo. She translated it for me.

I learned that the 1915 painting is called “The Black Obi” and it was painted by Okada Saburosuke. His style was heavily influenced by Kuroda Seiki, whose real name was Kuroda Kiyoteru. Seiki went to Paris as a young man, where he lived in an artist colony that included several Americans. He even studied English. Such things are difficult to comprehend, as I tend to forget that Japanese were in the US prior to World War II.

(Once before, this very thought really got to me after watching Letters from Iwo Jima, where Ken Watanabe’s character, General Kuribayashi, speaks of his life in California before the war and how he socialized with actors, and even received silver pistol as a gift, but then returned home when the war broke out to fight for Japan.)

One of the thing I love about The Black Obi is that it is the first time I’ve ever seen a Japanese woman in the context of an Impressionistic painting. It is exquisitely surreal as if she was cut from elsewhere and affixed to a Monet or a Renoir.

Such talent!

Seeing this painting made me wonder — Would this style of art would have continued in Japan if history’s course had been different?

More on Japanese art history can be found here.

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I have a lot on my mind at the moment and not enough time to write down my thoughts!

Here are some random tidbits :

As of the last day of May, 2010, I am no longer in my 20s.

This week, I decided to color my hair not just for the sake of something new and wild (like pink highlights) but to color gray! I used an awesome organic haircolor called Organic Color Systems which I found through my friend Robyn at Shear Miracles.

One of my conversations with fellow blogger Megan Dunham at HalfPintHouse was quoted at World Magazine online!

Our time in Japan is just about up! I will miss the karate dojo where my children and I have been practicing Shotokan karate, the lush green plant life, our close proximity to the sea, and the peaceful lifestyle of not having to lock our doors. Details forthcoming as they solidify.

Currently, I am…

-Working on my full accreditation through the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth… over 100 essay questions!

-Eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Veritas Press homeschooling curriculum for the 2010-2011 school year! Micah is officially starting school this year, although we’ve been working on his reading and math skills these past two years ;)

-Preparing for our upcoming month-long home leave to the US, just a few weeks away!

-Researching housing made out of storage containers (We are considering building our own house when we move back to the US!)

Check out these links on storage container housing:

The Cordell House – Numen Development (Model we like best so far!)

Shipping Container Housing Guide

Qwik House

Intermodal Steel Building Units and Container Homes

ContainerHome.Info

ZeroHouse.net

What do you think? Could you live in a house built of shipping containers? Why does or doesn’t it appeal to you? What features would you want included in your home?

… and now, I will fall into my bed and hopefully sleep through the night without anyone tearfully sleep-walking into my room or mistaking my stack of cloth grocery bags in the foyer for a potty!

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Asahi’s Green Cola is made without artificial coloring or flavoring…. but does contain high fructose corn syrup.

What does it taste like? Watch the review at http://www.youtube.com/user/yuckypeas#p/u/0/qTYEr9_xjWo Please subscribe to my YouTube channel to be the first to see my videos :)

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Click HERE to View on YouTube …. and subscribe to my channel, YuckyPeas!

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For the past six months, my daughter Tabitha has been taking karate on Wednesdays and Fridays…. and I have watched from the sidelines.

Above is a video of Tab, back right, performing Heian Shodan, the first kata. She had to learn this in order to receive her yellow belt.

I really wanted to participate, as some of the parents also take the class with their children, and I finally mustered up the courage to take the class.

So, I wrote a letter to the sensei and asked if it would be okay to join. I told him I’m not very coordinated, but really want to give it a shot. He said “gambatte ne!” (do your best!) and I’ve been taking the class for the past month.

At first, it was pretty frustrating. My Japanese language skills are soooo terrible, and, did I mention I’m not very coordinated? Slowly, though, the words and corresponding motions are becoming more familiar.

I can actually do Heian Shodan, without stopping, although my form could definitely be a little stricter.

The dojo is upstairs to a sports clothing store. From the road, you would never know there is a dojo nestled amongst the shops, which close about an hour before class begins, covered with metal pull-down doors. There is a dimly lit narrow set of steps leading upwards from the sidewalk that look like they might lead up to an apartment – but this is where we meet for class.

The tiny platform at the top of the steps is always covered in students’ shoes.

During the winter, the platform was covered in knee-high boots (typical here, as the snow is deep) and then, after one warm weekend, as if everyone called each other beforehand and agreed, suddenly the boots were gone and replaced by sneakers. The back rim of the sneaker openings are often bent inward, like make-shift clogs, as people here remove their shoes so often, they just kinda scuff around in them vs. bothering to put their feet in properly lace up.

The room where we practice is lined with stacks of brown cardboard boxes from the overflow of the sports store.

The floor is covered in foam mats – the kind you’d see in a children’s daycare – the center square being white mats, and the perimeter blue. The walls are lined with certificates and photographs of past tournaments.

On the left wall, there is a teeny tiny sliding sliding door (I’m 5′ 2″ and have to duck down, almost half my size, to go through the door) that leads to the lavatory, and presumably, the sensei’s house. When you get to the bottom of these steps, you put on a pair of slippers, and then take them off 10 feet later and replace them with bathroom slippers, and then switch again as you go back towards the stairs. It’s quite the process just to take a tinkle.

A typical class begins with warm up stretches — about 15 minutes. We then take a quick water break.

Next, we practice footwork. This can be different styles of jumps, or ladder obstacles… each with the “proper” way to do them. It is NOT a free-for-all. The sensei is kind, but gets very mad if people goof off!

Then, we break into groups and practice punches and kicks in formation. As we go forward, we do offensive punches and kicks, counting up to five… ichi, ni, san, shi, go.

I do fine for the offensive part, but when we go backwards, which has a different footwork and defensive blocks, I always seem to get my feet turned around. I step backwards with my left foot instead of my right, for example. There is one blackbelt teacher’s helper in the class who always immediately comes running over to me and loudly yells, “SWITCH!”, hits his legs, and then turns his wrist. ::blush:: Tonight, he only had to yell at me twice :P

After the punches and kicks in formation, we take a break and then form two lines for practice with a partner. Depending on how hard we are supposed to kick and punch that night, we sometimes use padded shields. Each punch and block have about 3-4 moves, and words that go with them. You have to say the words identifying where you will be striking:

After you identify the strike, you go through the corresponding initial set up, contact (block) and then a counter hit/kick (met with blocks).

The last part of class has been practice for the tournament. We spend time perfecting bows, and then individual katas and one-on-one fighting. The sensei would like for Tabitha to enter three competitions : Individual kata, Kata in a group, and one-on-one choreographed fighting, demonstrating the three specific moves I mentioned above; very controlled with exact moves and responses.

While I do essentially have two left feet, I am having a great time and am thankful I just made myself try karate! It is something Tabitha and I can go and do together, as well as practice together at home. I’m also able to help her more, as I am beginning to have a better understanding from having done the moves myself… and she helps me, too. Physically, it’s challenging. In order to have good form, you must keep your gut sucked in and keep all of your moves very centered and snug. I feel like I’m getting faster with my moves and definitely more toned.

(AHH!!! I’m studying KARATE in JAPAN!!!) (Had to get that out of my system. Bye, now.)

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This is the view from our front yard, a random mall amongst the rice fields. (You may recall the view from our back yard, Mt. Iwaki, from my post a few days ago. Quite a contrast, eh?)

Last night, another foot of snow fell onto our town. This photo was taken at 9am this morning. There were a bunch of snow plows in the mall parking lot (if you click on the photo to enlarge, you can see two plows, covering the front section of the lot), frantically trying to clear the snow before the 10am opening.

I am beginning to realize that last year’s winter was pretty mild. The first storm of winter hit the day we arrived. It snowed more here than back home, and it seemed like winter would not let up. Now, I cannot imagine what it would have been like for us if it had snowed as much last year as it has this year. I had no idea how bad it could be — and I have heard it can get even worse than this!

Even with more snow, we are better off this year.

Here are some reasons why:

This time around, we know where the laundromat is located. Last year, we had wet clothes for seven people drying in random places around the house.

We know the roads a little better. Last year, we drove around but everything was snow covered and difficult to visualize where we were. We had to re-learn the roads when everything thawed, as they looked much different.

We found a closer onsen for when we need to get clean AND warm. Last year, we drove to one about 30 minutes away as we were able. Our bathroom is not heated — you can see your breath in there! I realize that most of my friends back home cannot relate to going to a community bath, but during winter months here, onsens are a life-saver.

Last year, we did not know about local events until it was too late to book a hotel. This year, we have our accommodations booked for next month’s Sapporo Snow Festival. (I am looking forward to drinking warm sake and taking photos of all the ice and snow sculptures!)

Last year, I did not have a decent pair of boots. This year, I am sporting these tall Bogs waterproof boots. Mobilized, baby.

Last year, never having experienced the amazing spring and summer months, I felt pretty hopeless about our new location. This year, I know that this part of Japan does in fact warm up, and I am eagerly looking forward to spring.

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I just took the weirdest bath with three of my girlfriends.

Our region is famous all over Japan for apples. Apples show up in the most interesting places here, paying homage to our agricultural heritage. Tonight’s special at our local onsen was an “apple bath”. One would think that it meant maybe apple scented bath salts were put into the water — but not so. There were just plain apples bobbing in the water. Sitting in the bath was like sitting in a giant bobbing-for-apples bucket, only with steaming hot water instead of cold.

The apples weren’t fresh, either. We closed the place, and, by 11:30pm, the apples had taken a beating from steeping all day. Some had bite marks from where children had bitten into them.

We sat for a while, serenely getting wrinkled, surrounded by apples.

Stealthily, I threw an apple under the water.

Score!

The apple right went right under my one of my friend’s legs, shot up, and hit her behind the knees.

“Oh!” she said, startled…. and then threw one back.

Apples were soon bouncing off bodies and shooting up out of the water.

Much to all the old ladies’ chagrin, we were splashing and laughing so hard.

Crazy night. Only in Japan.

Photo Credit: Bobbing by Bravo Whiskey via Flickr.

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Elizabeth Hull from Binghamton, NY, is the winner! Congratulations!

She is a mom of four, ages ranging from 15 to two newborn twin daughters. Her husband both plays guitar and sings in the band Old Friends. Elizabeth occasionally lends them her vocal talent.

Elizabeth is currently on hiatus from her job as a nurse practitioner as she cares for her new babies. She recently decided to take up blogging and her debut posts at In Heaven, I Want to Be A Cowgirl are about the natural full-term homebirth of her twins!

(The best part of the monthly giveaways for me has been getting to know my readers!)

After the drawing this morning, I decided to share a “bonus” story about my passport and wallet — which were lost (and found) the night before my solo trip to meet Tom in Tokyo. Enjoy!

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